Midwives are at South and Jordan hospitals 24/7 to deliver babies

While midwifery care has been available on the South Shore for 25 years, recent changes are good news for women who choose that option. Now, for the first time both South Shore Hospital and Jordan Hospital have a midwife on site round the clock.

By Jody Feinberg

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jody Feinberg

Posted May. 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 16, 2013 at 4:07 PM

By Jody Feinberg

Posted May. 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 16, 2013 at 4:07 PM

» Social News

“Call the Midwife” is a popular new PBS Show, but the title also describes what South Shore women are doing.

While midwifery care has been available on the South Shore for 25 years, recent changes are good news for women who choose that option. Now, for the first time both South Shore Hospital and Jordan Hospital have a midwife on site round the clock.

And in the past few years, the hospitals also have added more midwives either on staff or in affiliated group practices. Jordan Ob/Gyn, which includes the hospital and group practices in four towns, now has the equivalent of six full-time certified nurse midwives, up from three. South Shore Hospital has nine, up from seven, and they will provide care both at the hospital and in group practices.

“We’re going to have the ability to offer midwife care to more women, and if they choose midwife care, they will have that for the birth,” said certified nurse midwife Julie Paul, who practices at South Shore Hospital. “I’m very excited because I think it will be a great thing for women.”

First-time mother Kelley White of Hull agrees. She is grateful to the midwife who comforted and motivated her as she struggled through three hours of pushing to avoid a surgical delivery.

“I knew I wouldn’t know what was going on, so I wanted to have someone who would be more available to answer questions and support me,” said White, who gave birth to her son, William Sullivan-White, on April 25 at South Shore Hospital. “My midwife was there every time I needed her, and she really coached me and kept me from giving up.”

That support and attention is the hallmark of a midwife, but it’s coupled with advanced medical training. Midwives are registered nurses with a master’s degree in nursing, midwifery or a related discipline who have passed an exam for state certification. They can administer and prescribe pain medication and an epidural, and they work in conjunction with doctors, who are available if a Caesarean section is required or complications arise. About 500 certified nurse midwives practice in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives.

Even doctors acknowledge that midwives offer a level of involvement during labor that they rarely can provide.

“I would encourage all healthy, low-risk women to consider midwifery care,” said Dr. Kim Dever, director of obstetrics and gynecology at South Shore Hospital. “The care they offer is very safe and the opportunities are wonderful for education and labor support. Not to say that obstetricians aren’t in the room with a patient, but there are more things pulling them in other directions.”

Page 2 of 2 - At South Shore Hospital, midwives delivered about 15 percent of the 3,500 babies born last year. At Jordan Hospital, they delivered about 45 percent of the 640 babies.

The Affordable Care Act and a nationwide push to reduce health-care costs are likely to increase the midwife-delivery percentage. The act – also known as Obamacare – expands nursing education and financial support for nursing students. It also requires Medicare to use the same reimbursement rate for office visits with certified nurse midwives that it uses for obstetrician visits.

“I think it will make the field much more open to midwives,” said Dr. Brigid McCue, director of obstetrics and gynecology at Jordan Ob/Gyn. “The way I see care evolving is that if we need more practitioners, we will find that adding midwives is more cost-effective and that they make patients happy.”

Nonetheless, midwives continue to be misunderstood, Dever said. Some people think midwives practice only in independent birth centers, favor natural childbirth, and resist medication and pain blockers. In fact, 50 percent of women who delivered with midwives at Jordan Hospital received an epidural, McCue said. And some think of midwifery as alternative medicine, but midwives are covered by Medicaid, Medicare and most insurance plans that cover pregnancy.

Although many women want to have a particular experience, childbirth is inherently unpredictable. Caitlin Willoughby Smith of Weymouth knows this, having had two completely different experiences. Three years ago, she gave birth after 24 hours of exhausting labor. Then, last month, she experienced get-to-the-hospital-just-in-time, excruciating labor. Nurse midwives attended both births.

“My birth experiences were 180 degrees different,” Willoughby Smith said. “But the nurse midwives both times were a huge source of comfort and encouragement.”